CVE-2008-4537 in EC-CUBE
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in EC-CUBE Ver1 1.4.6 and earlier, Ver1 Beta 1.5.0-beta and earlier, Ver2 2.1.2a and earlier, Ver2 Beta(RC) 2.1.1-beta and earlier, Community Edition 1.3.4 and earlier, and Community Edition Nightly-Build r17336 and earlier allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors, a different issue than CVE-2008-4535 and CVE-2008-4536.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/11/2018
The cross-site scripting vulnerability identified as CVE-2008-4537 affects multiple versions of the EC-CUBE e-commerce platform across its various releases including version 1.4.6 and earlier, version 2.1.2a and earlier, and several beta and nightly builds. This vulnerability represents a critical security flaw that enables remote attackers to execute malicious scripts within the context of victim browsers, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, session hijacking, or defacement of web applications. The vulnerability exists due to insufficient input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the application's processing pipeline, allowing malicious payloads to be injected through unspecified vectors that differ from related vulnerabilities CVE-2008-4535 and CVE-2008-4536.
The technical flaw manifests in the platform's failure to properly sanitize user-supplied input before rendering it in web pages, creating opportunities for attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code or HTML content. This weakness typically occurs when the application accepts data from external sources without adequate validation or encoding, particularly in parameters, form fields, or URL components. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-79 as "Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')", which represents one of the most prevalent and dangerous web application security flaws. The specific vectors for exploitation remain unspecified in the CVE description but generally involve manipulation of application parameters or user interface elements that process and display user input.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection, as it can enable attackers to perform session hijacking attacks, steal sensitive user information, manipulate application functionality, or redirect users to malicious websites. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability to gain unauthorized access to user accounts, modify shopping cart contents, access customer data, or perform administrative actions depending on the application's access controls. The vulnerability affects the core functionality of e-commerce platforms by potentially compromising user trust, damaging business reputation, and creating opportunities for financial fraud. Given that EC-CUBE is a widely used open-source e-commerce solution, the potential attack surface is significant, particularly for businesses handling sensitive customer information and financial transactions.
Security mitigations for this vulnerability should include immediate patching of affected versions to the latest stable releases, implementation of comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms, and deployment of web application firewalls to detect and block malicious payloads. Organizations should conduct thorough security assessments of their web applications to identify similar vulnerabilities in other components and establish secure coding practices that prevent XSS attacks through proper parameter validation and context-aware output encoding. The remediation process should also include regular security updates, code reviews, and security awareness training for development teams to prevent similar issues in future releases. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1203 'Exploitation for Client Execution' and represents a fundamental security gap that requires both immediate patching and long-term architectural improvements to prevent future occurrences.